Providing communication services using sets of i/o user devices

ABSTRACT

A user terminal emulation server maintains a database identifying network addresses, UI capabilities, and communication protocols of I/O user devices. Communication sessions are established between a user terminal emulation application and a network entity and I/O user devices proximately located to a user and provide a combined I/O user interface. Delay profiles are determined between the application and the I/O user devices. A downlink flow from the network entity is split into a plurality of downlink flow components assigned to the I/O user devices. For each of the downlink flow components, the server formats the component for transmission to the assigned I/O user device, initiates transmission of the formatted downlink flow component to the assigned I/O user device, and controls timing for when the formatted downlink flow component is transmitted to the assigned I/O user device based on the delay profile associated with the assigned I/O user device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a user terminal emulation server forproviding communication services using sets of input and/or output (I/O)user devices, a method by a user terminal emulation server for providingcommunication services using sets of I/O user devices, and a computerprogram product for providing communication services using sets of I/Ouser devices.

BACKGROUND

The market for user terminals is driven by the quest to provide userswith increasingly advanced communication and other operational featureswithin the constraints of a portable handheld form factor. Thedevelopment requirements for user terminal are increasingly complex asdesigners seek to integrate a greater variety of user interfaces andadvanced operational features within the portable handheld form factor.Advancements in operational features have required more highlyintegrated and faster processing circuits with greater circuitdensities, which becomes more difficult under constraints on costs andpower consumption.

This all-inclusive feature-rich approach for user terminal developmentdoes not satisfy all of the myriad of differing desires held byconsumers seeking solutions for the rapidly expanding variety ofcommunication services. Moreover, the always-connected expectations oftoday's society obligates users to vigilantly keep their user terminalswithin reach or risk being unable to timely receive or initiatecommunication services.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments disclosed herein are directed to providing acentralized server based approach for emulating a user terminal using anetworked set of input and/or output (I/O) user devices that aredetermined to be proximately located to a user and to have userinterface (UI) capabilities that are combinable to provide a user withthe ability to receive and/or initiate a communication service with anetwork entity. A user terminal emulation server can split a downlinkflow into a plurality of downlink flow components, format each of thedownlink flow components to be compatible with the assigned I/O userdevice, and control timing for when the formatted downlink flowcomponent is transmitted to the assigned I/O user device based on adetermined delay profile for the assigned I/O user device. The userterminal emulation server can also combine uplink flow components fromI/O user devices into a combined uplink flow which it formats to becompatible with the network entity.

In one embodiment, a user terminal emulation server for providingcommunication services using sets of I/O user devices performsoperations that include maintaining a database that identifies networkaddresses of I/O user devices, UI capabilities of the I/O user devices,and communication protocols of the I/O user devices, based on content ofreceived registration messages. A communication request is received froma network entity for establishing a communication service between a userand the network entity. Responsive to the communication request,communication sessions are provided between a user terminal emulationapplication and the network entity and between the user terminalemulation application and a set of the I/O user devices that aredetermined to be proximately located to a location of the user and thatsatisfy a combined capability rule for being combinable to provide acombined I/O user interface for the user to interface with the userterminal emulation application to perform the communication service.Delay profiles are determined for the communication sessions between theuser terminal emulation application and the I/O user devices in the set,where each of the delay profiles indicates a communication delayassociated with communicating with a different one of the I/O userdevices in the set.

A downlink flow is received from the network entity and split into aplurality of downlink flow components that are assigned to differentones of the I/O user devices in the set, where the different ones of thedownlink flow components in the set having different UI characteristicthat match the UI capabilities identified by the database for thedifferent ones of the I/O user devices in the set. The operationsinclude repeating for each of the downlink flow components: formattingthe downlink flow component for transmission to the assigned I/O userdevice based on the communication protocol of the assigned I/O userdevice identified by the database; initiating transmission of theformatted downlink flow component to the assigned I/O user device; andcontrolling timing for when the formatted downlink flow component istransmitted to the assigned I/O user device based on the delay profileassociated with communicating with the assigned I/O user device.

Some potential advantages of this and related embodiments include that auser can receive and initiate communication services without thenecessity of a traditional all-inclusive feature-rich user terminal. Theuser terminal emulation server can adaptively combine the available UIcapabilities of I/O user devices which are proximate to a user toattempt to provide a communication service. The I/O user devices caninclude, for example, wireless (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, lightcommunication LiFi, and/or cellular) capable speakers, microphones,display devices, keyboards, other user input and/or output userinterface devices, etc., which are becoming ubiquitous nearly everywherepursuant to the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. The user terminalemulation server may dynamically respond to an incoming communicationrequest directed to the user or an outgoing communication request fromthe user by operationally communicating with available I/O user deviceswhich are proximate to a user to form a combined user interface throughwhich a user terminal emulation application executed by the serverprovide to provide user terminal functionality for a communicationservice. The server-based approach can provide low cost adaptablecommunication services to users.

The formatting operations performed by the user terminal emulationserver enable the communications between the network entity and the I/Ouser devices to be agnostic as to any particular communication formatconstraints. For example, the formatting can generate pairs of real-timeprotocol (RTP) and Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP) flows for eachdownlink flow component that is split from a downlink flow and which areformatted to be compatible with assigned ones of the I/O user devices.The user terminal emulation server can control timing of transmissionsto individual ones of the I/O user devices, for example, to compensatefor differing communication transmission time delays between the userterminal emulation server and the individual I/O user devices and/or tocompensate for differing time delays for the individual I/O user devicesto process the downlink flow components for generating UI output to theuser.

Other user terminal emulation servers, methods by user terminalemulation servers, and computer program products for use with userterminal emulation servers according to embodiments of the inventivesubject matter will be or become apparent to one with skill in the artupon review of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional user terminal emulation servers,methods, and computer program products be included within thisdescription, be within the scope of the present inventive subjectmatter, and be protected by the accompanying claims. Moreover, it isintended that all embodiments disclosed herein can be implementedseparately or combined in any way and/or combination

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example andare not limited by the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system with a user terminal emulation server thatoperationally integrates sets of I/O user devices that are proximatelylocated to users to logically form virtualized user terminals providingcommunication services in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the user terminal emulationserver communicating with various elements of a cellular system toprovide communication services in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the user terminal emulationserver communicating in a different manner with various elements of acellular system to provide communication services in accordance withsome other embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4-6 are combined flowcharts of operations and related data flowsbetween UserTags, I/O user devices, and the user terminal emulationserver in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts of operations that may be performed by auser terminal emulation server to provide communication services througha set of I/O user devices in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of downlink flow functional components of auser terminal emulation server that are configured to operate inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of uplink flow functional components of auser terminal emulation server that are configured to operate inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 11 and 13 are flowcharts of downlink flow operations that may beperformed by a user terminal emulation server to provide communicationservices through a set of I/O user devices in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of uplink flow operations that may be performedby a user terminal emulation server to provide communication servicesthrough a set of I/O user devices in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of hardware circuit components of an I/O userdevice which are configured to operate in accordance with someembodiments; and

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of hardware circuit components of a userterminal emulation server that are configured to operate in accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodimentsof inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of various present inventive concepts to thoseskilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments arenot mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitlyassumed to be present or used in another embodiment.

Various embodiments disclosed herein are directed to improvements inoperation of a centralized server based approach for emulating a userterminal using a networked set of input and/or output (I/O) user devicesthat are determined to be proximately located to a user and to have userinterface (UI) capabilities that are combinable to provide a combinedI/O user interface for the user to interface with a user terminalemulation application of the server to perform a communication service.

Some potential advantages of these embodiments include that a user canreceive and initiate communication services without the necessity of atraditional all-inclusive feature-rich user terminal, i.e., aconventional smartphone, mobile phone, tablet computer, etc. The userterminal emulation server can adaptively combine the available UIcapabilities of I/O user devices that are proximate to a user to attemptto provide a communication service. The user terminal emulation servermay dynamically respond to an incoming communication request directed toa user or an outgoing communication request from the user byoperationally utilizing available I/O user devices which are proximateto a user to form a combined interface through which a user terminalemulation application executed by the server to provide user terminalfunctionality for a communication service. The server-based approach canprovide low cost adaptable communication services to users.

Dynamic allocation of I/O user device capabilities whenever and whereverthe I/O user devices are in the proximity of a user enables efficientand flexible use of existing hardware, such as televisions, conferencephones, laptops, surveillance cameras, connected household appliances,connected cars, etc., that is capable of providing some UI functionalityto user during a communication service. The user thereby has reduced orno need to carry an expensive and all-inclusive user terminal, e.g.smart phone, that includes all necessary UI capabilities, displaydevice, keyboard, speakers, etc. The user may instead carry a hardwaredevice which operates to identify the user, referred to as a “UserTag”,over a wireless communication interface, such as a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, to one or more of the I/O user devices.Various embodiments disclosed herein may disrupt the traditionalhandset-centric mobile communication industry as the features andcapabilities of what forms a user terminal are not constrained to thedomain of mobile phone manufacturers. A user terminal emulation servercan operate to provide a user terminal, which can also be referred to asa SoftUE or a user terminal emulation application that is run by theuser terminal emulation server.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system with a user terminal emulation server 100that operationally integrates sets of I/O user devices 130 that areproximately located to users to logically emulate user terminalsproviding communication services in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the user terminal emulation server 100 may be acloud resource that is networked to the remote from the I/O user devices130, or may be more proximately located on a shared network with the I/Ouser devices 130. The user terminal emulation server 100 is configuredto communicate with the I/O user devices 130 to identify which, if any,are located proximately to a user for use in providing UI capabilitiesduring a communication service.

Users may carry a hardware tag, a.k.a. UserTag, which is capable oftransmitting a unique user identifier through a communicationsinterface, such as a near-field communications interface (e.g.,Bluetooth, BLE, NFC, RFID, etc., or combinations thereof), for receiptby one or more of the I/O user devices 130 which are proximately locatedto the user. One type of UserTag can be a simple stand-alone electronicdevice having limited capability for transmitting an identifier througha near-field communications interface. Another type of UserTag can be asmartphone or smartwatch having cellular connectivity that transmits acellular identity (e.g., from a SIM card) or an application identitythrough a cellular interface or a near-field communications interface.

The user identifier may alternatively or additionally be operationallydetermined by biometrics operations performed by, e.g., one or more ofthe I/O user devices 130. The biometrics operations may include, withoutlimitation, one or more of voice recognition, image/face recognition,eye recognition, fingerprint recognition, or a combination thereof. Theuser identity may be determined based on credential provided by the userwhen, e.g., logging into an application or account. The user identitymay be provided by a cell phone using information from the subscriptionSIM and proximity of the cell phone to one or more of the I/O userdevices 130 can be determined using the phone's near-fieldcommunications (NFC) capability.

A user identifier, a UserTag identifier, and a user terminal applicationcan be logically associated with each other in a database during a userregistration process or as part of another setup process. For example,during a user registration process a user may obtain an account loginidentifier (serving as the user identifier) that is registered in thedatabase as being associated with a UserTag identifier for a physicalUserTag that has been provided to (e.g., purchased by) the user andbeing associated with a user terminal application that emulates a userterminal having defined capabilities (e.g., a cell phone providingcellular and over-the-type voice-over-IP communication services).

Operations that can be performed by the system to provide communicationservices to user are described below with further reference to FIG. 7,which is a flowchart of operations by the user terminal emulation server100. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, the user terminal emulation server 100maintains 700 a database 120 that identifies network addresses of I/Ouser devices 130 and further identifies UI capabilities of the I/O userdevices 130, based on content of received registration messages. Thecapabilities of the I/O user devices 130 may be logically arranged inthe database 120 based on the type of UI capability provided, e.g.,display device, microphone, speaker, keyboard, and may be furtherarranged based on a quality of service provided by the UI capability. AnI/O user device 130 may communicate a registration message, containingits network address and UI capabilities, to the user terminal emulationserver 100 responsive to an initial set up operation, to being connectedto a new communication network, and/or responsive to another definedevent for triggering generation of a registration message. Theregistration messages may include a geographic location of the I/O userdevice 130, which can be stored in the database 120. The I/O userdevices 130 may communicate with the server 100 via a data network(e.g., Internet and/or private network) using a WiFi transceiver,Bluetooth transceiver, cellular transceiver, light communicationtransceiver (LiFi), and/or another RF or light communicationstransceiver.

The user terminal emulation server 100 registers 702 a network addressof a user terminal emulation application 110 and an identity of a userwith a network entity 150 providing communication services. The networkentity 150 provides a communication service function 140 which may, forexample, correspond to an over-the-top Voice Over Internet Protocol(VoIP) service, Netflix service, Facebook service, Skype service,Internet browser service, a cellular communication service, etc. Theuser terminal emulation application 110 is executed by the user terminalemulation server 100. A user terminal emulation application 110 may runone or more applications that are normally run by a smart phone, such asa Netflix application, Facebook application, Skype application, Internetbrowser application, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a different instantiation of the user terminalemulation application 110 may be hosted by the server 100 for each userwho is to be provided communication services (i.e., illustrated userterminal emulation applications #1-#N corresponding to users 1-N). Theuser terminal emulation application 110 may perform registration of theuser with the network entity 150 and setup of a communication servicewith a user responsive to communication requests in accordance with theoperations of FIG. 7.

When the communication service function 140 of the network entity 150 isa VoIP service, the operation to register 702 the network address of theuser terminal emulation application and the identity of the user withthe network entity 150 can include registering the network address ofthe user terminal emulation application 110 and the identity of the userwith a network server of a VoIP communication service provider.

When the communication service function 140 of the network entity 150 isa cellular communication service, the operation to register 702 thenetwork address of the user terminal emulation application and theidentity of the user with the network entity 150 can include registeringthe network address of the user terminal emulation application 110 andthe identity of the user with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or othernetwork node of a core network operated by a cellular communicationservice provider.

The user terminal emulation server 100 may receive the registrationmessages from the I/O user devices using the Session Initiation Protocol(SIP)/Session Description Protocol (SDP), where each of the registrationmessages identifies the network address and the UI capability of one ofthe I/O user devices. The communication request may be received from thenetwork entity 150 using the SIP/SDP, and the operation to providecommunication sessions between the user terminal emulation application110 and each of the I/O user devices in the set, and between the userterminal emulation application 110 and the requesting user terminal maybe performing using the SIP/SDP.

A registration message from an I/O user device can include, for example,an IP address and port number, MAC address, fully qualified domain name(FQDN), and/or another network address, and further include informationidentifying the UI capability of the I/O user device. The I/O userdevice may respond to becoming powered-on by communicating theregistration message to the user terminal emulation server 100.

The user terminal emulation server 100 receives 704 a communicationrequest from the network entity 150 for establishing a communicationservice between the user and a requesting user terminal, e.g., acellular phone, computer with Skype application, etc. Responsive to thecommunication request, the user terminal emulation server 100 identifies706 a set of I/O user devices among the I/O user devices 130 identifiedby the database 120 that are determined to be proximately located to alocation of the user and are further determined, based on the UIcapabilities identified by the database 120 for the set of I/O userdevices and based on content of the communication request, to satisfy acombined capability rule for being combinable to provide a combined I/Ouser interface for the user to interface with the user terminalemulation application 110 to provide the communication service.

Based on determining that the set of I/O user devices satisfies thecombined capability rule, the user terminal emulation server 100provides 708 communication sessions between the user terminal emulationapplication 110 and the I/O user devices in the set and between the userterminal emulation application 110 and the requesting user terminal viathe network entity 150. The communication request that is received 704by the user terminal emulation application 110 may contain an indicationof a minimum UI capability that must be provided to the user during thecommunication service, such as: speaker only; combination of speaker andmicrophone; display only; combination of display device, speaker, andmicrophone; etc. The combined capability rule which is used by theserver 100 to determine whether a communication service can be providedand by which set of I/O user devices, may thereby be defined based onthe minimum UI capability that is indicated by the communicationrequest.

The user terminal emulation server 100 then routes 710 communicationtraffic that is received from at least one of the I/O user devices inthe set toward the requesting user terminal via the network entity 150.For each data type that is received as communication traffic from therequesting user terminal, the user terminal emulation server 100 selectsone of the I/O user devices from among the set of I/O user devices basedon matching characteristics of the data type to the UI capabilitiesidentified by the database 120 for the one of the I/O user devices, andthen routes the data of the data type toward the network address of theselected one of the I/O user devices.

As will be explained in further detail below, the server 100 may alsocombine 716 data streams are received from the I/O user devices in theset, and route the combined data streams towards the requesting userterminal, e.g., via the network entity 150.

The user terminal emulation server 100 (e.g., the application 110 or anI/O user device handler described below) may be responsible for trackingwhich I/O user devices are proximately located to a present location ofthe user. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of corresponding operations. The server100 can receive 800 presence reports from individual ones of the I/Ouser devices containing their network address and an identifier of auser who is determined by the I/O user device to be proximately located.For example, an I/O user device may read a hardware tag, also referredto herein as a “UserTag”, through a NFC communication interface, maysense biometric information from the user, and/or may perform otheroperations to detect presence of a user and to identify the user.Responsive to the presence reports, the server 100 updates 802 thedatabase 120 to indicate which user identifiers are proximately locatedto which of the I/O user devices.

With further reference to the example system of FIG. 1, a set of I/Ouser devices 130 has been determined by the instantiated user terminalemulation application #1 to be proximately located to a location of afirst user carrying UserTag#1, and to further have UI capabilities thatare combinable to satisfy the combined capability rule for providing acombined I/O user interface for the first user to use during a requestedcommunication service. Application #1 responsively uses that set of I/Ouser devices 130 to provide a combined I/O user interface for use by thefirst user during a communication service via network entity 150 betweenthe first user and another user terminal.

Similarly, another set of I/O user devices 130 has been determined bythe instantiated user terminal emulation application #2 to beproximately located to a location of a second user carrying UserTag#2,and to further have UI capabilities that are combinable to satisfy thecombined capability rule for providing a combined I/O user interface forthe second user to use during a requested communication service.Application #2 responsively uses that set of I/O user devices 130 toprovide a combined I/O user interface for use by the second user duringa communication service via network entity 150 between the second userand yet another user terminal.

FIG. 1 also illustrates that another set of I/O user devices 130 is notproximately located to either UserTag#1 or UserTag#2.

As explained above, the communication request which is requesting theestablishment of communication service with an identified user may beinitiated by the network entity 150 using the network address of theuser terminal emulation application and identity of the user which wereearlier registered with the network entity 150. However, thecommunication request may additionally or alternatively be generated byone of the I/O user devices 130 responsive to a command received from aproximately located user. For example, a user may operate a userinterface provided by one of the I/O user devices 130 to initiate acombined audio and video call with another user. The user terminalemulation server 100 (e.g., the IODH or the application 110 for thatuser) receives the communication request along with the identity of theuser, which may be sensed via the UserTag. The application 110 performsthe identifying 706, providing 708, routing 710, selecting 712, andcombining 716 operations described above for FIG. 7 to set up andoperate a communication service between the user and the other user viathe network entity 150.

Further example systems and related operations will now be described tofurther illustrate how I/O user devices having different UI capabilitiescan be operationally combined to provide a combined UI that can be usedby user to satisfy the communication requirements of a communicationservice.

Further illustrative operations are described regarding an exampleembodiment in which a speaker device is one of the I/O user devices 130in the set capable of playing a received audio stream and a microphonedevice is one of the I/O user devices 130 in the set capable of sensingaudio to output a microphone stream. Operations by the user terminalemulation application include updating the database 120 based on contentof registration messages from the speaker device and the microphonedevice to identify network addresses of the speaker device and themicrophone device, and to identify UI capabilities of the speaker deviceas having a speaker capability and the microphone device as having amicrophone capability. The speaker UI capabilities may identify a numberof speakers provided, sound loudness capability, and/or otheroperational characteristics. The microphone UI capabilities may identifya number of microphones provided, sensitivity the microphones, and/orother operational characteristics. The speaker device and the microphonedevice are each identified as belonging to the set of I/O user devicesthat are determined to be proximately located to the location of theuser (e.g., UserTag#1) and are further determined, based on the UIcapabilities identified by the database 120, to satisfy the combinedcapability rule for being combinable to provide a combined I/O UI forthe user to interface with the user terminal emulation application 110to provide the communication service. Based on determining that thespeaker device and the microphone device satisfy the combined capabilityrule, further operations are performed to route a microphone streamreceived from the microphone device toward the requesting user terminal(e.g., via network entity 150). When an audio stream is received ascommunication traffic from the requesting user terminal the operationsselect the speaker device based on matching an audio characteristic ofthe audio stream to the speaker capability identified by the databasefor the speaker device, and then route the audio stream toward thenetwork address of the speaker device.

The example embodiment may include, when a display device is one of theI/O user devices in the set capable of displaying a received videostream, the operations update the database 120 based on content ofregistration messages to identify network addresses of the displaydevice, and to identify UI capabilities of the display device as havinga display capability. The display UI capabilities may identify a screendisplay size, aspect ratio, pixel resolution, video frame ratessupported, whether display device supports shared user support via splitscreen configuration, and/or other operational characteristics. Thedisplay device is also identified as among the set of I/O user devicesthat is determined to be proximately located to the location of the userand are further determined, based on the UI capabilities identified bythe database 120, to satisfy the combined capability rule for beingcombinable to provide the combined I/O UI for the user to interface withthe user terminal emulation application 110 to provide the communicationservice. Based on determining that the speaker device, the displaydevice, and the microphone device satisfy the combined capability rule,further operations respond by to receipt of video stream ascommunication traffic from the requesting user terminal selecting thedisplay device based on matching a video characteristic of the videostream to the display capability identified by the database 120 for thedisplay device, and then routing the video stream toward the networkaddress of the display device.

In the example embodiment the operations for routing the audio streamand the video stream toward the network addresses of the speaker deviceand the display device, respectively, may include when audio data andvideo data are received within a same stream from the requesting userterminal through a first communication session: separating the audiodata from the video data; routing the audio data toward the networkaddress of the speaker device through a second communication session;and routing the video data toward the network address of the displaydevice through the second communication session or a third communicationsession.

The example embodiment may include, when a camera device is one of theI/O user devices in the set capable of outputting a camera stream, theoperations update the database 120 based on content of a registrationmessage to identify a network address of the camera device and toidentify a UI capability of the camera device as having a cameracapability. The camera UI capabilities may identify a camera pixelcount, image quality, light sensitivity, and/or other operationalcharacteristics. The camera device is further identified as a member ofthe set of I/O user devices that are determined to be proximatelylocated to the location of the user and is further determined, based onthe UI capability identified by the database 120, to satisfy thecombined capability rule for being combinable with the other I/O userdevices in the set to provide the combined I/O UI for the user tointerface with the user terminal emulation application 110 to providethe communication service. Based on determining that the camera devicesatisfies the combined capability rule, further operations are performedto route the camera stream received from the camera device toward therequesting user terminal, e.g., via the network entity 150.

The operations for routing the microphone stream received from themicrophone device and the camera stream received from the camera devicetoward the requesting user terminal, can include: receiving themicrophone stream from the microphone device through a firstcommunication session; receiving the camera stream from the cameradevice through the first communication session or a second communicationsession; combining the microphone stream and camera stream in a combinedstream; and routing the combined stream toward the requesting userterminal through a third communication session, e.g., via the networkentity 150.

The example embodiment may include, when a keyboard device is one of theI/O user devices in the set capable of outputting key selection dataresponsive to key selections by a user among keys of the keyboarddevice, the operations can update the database 120 based on content of aregistration message to identify a network address of the keyboarddevice and to identify a UI capability of the keyboard device as havinga keyboard capability. The keyboard device capabilities may identify akey count, indication of whether the keyboard is a physical keyboard ora touch sensitive input device, and/or other keyboard capabilities. Thekeyboard device is further identified as a member of the set of I/O userdevices that are determined to be proximately located to the location ofthe user and is further determined, based on the UI capabilityidentified by the database 120, to satisfy the combined capability rulefor being combinable with the other I/O user devices in the set toprovide the combined I/O UI for the user to interface with the userterminal emulation application 110 to provide the communication service.Based on determining that the keyboard device satisfies the combinedcapability rule, further operations are performed to identify commandsformed by the key selection data received from the keyboard and toperform operations that have been predefined as being triggered based onreceipt of the identified commands

The operations for routing the key selection data received from thekeyboard device and microphone stream received from the microphonedevice, may include: receiving the key selection data from the keyboarddevice through a first communication session receiving the microphonestream from the microphone device through the first communicationsession or a second communication session; combining the key selectiondata and the microphone stream in a combined stream; and routing thecombined stream toward the requesting user terminal through a thirdcommunication session, e.g., via the network entity 150.

Although various operations have been described in the context of thecommunication service being successfully set up when the requested useris determined to be proximately located to a set of I/O user devicesthat satisfy the combined capability rule for the communication service,this will not occur when a sufficient set of I/O user devices is notdetermined in that manner The corresponding operations that can beperformed by the user terminal emulation application 110 when acommunication service cannot be set up are explained below. In thisexample, the user terminal emulation application 110 receives anothercommunication request from the network entity 150 for establishinganother communication service between another user and anotherrequesting user terminal. Responsive to the another communicationrequest, the operations perform a determination of whether another setof I/O user devices among the I/O user devices identified by thedatabase 120 are determined to be proximately located to a location ofthe another user and available for use for the another communicationservice and are further determined, based on the UI capabilitiesidentified by the database 120 for the another set of I/O user devices,to satisfy the combined capability rule for being combinable to providea combined I/O UI for the another user to interface with another userterminal emulation application to provide the another communicationservice. Based on determining that no other set of I/O user devices isdetermined to satisfy the combined capability rule and be proximatelylocated to the location of the another user, the operations communicatea message to the network entity 150 indicating that the anothercommunication service cannot be established. In this manner, the networkentity 150 is informed that request a communication service cannot beset up at this time with the identified user.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the user terminal emulationserver 100 as an element of an operator service node 202 within acellular system 200. Referring to FIG. 2, the communication servicefunction of the network entity 140 (FIG. 1) may be provided by theoperator service node 202 or may be reached through externalinfrastructure 240, e.g., the Internet. The server 100 may, for example,be implemented in the radio access network 220 to provide edge computingwith faster responsiveness or may be implemented within another node ofthe cellular system 200. The user terminal emulation server 100 caninclude an I/O user device handler (IODH) 212, a control function (CF)214, the instantiated user terminal emulation applications 110, and aservice gateway (GW) 216. A user terminal emulation application 110 mayrun one or more applications that are normally run by a smart phone,such as a Netflix application, Facebook application, Skype application,Internet browser application, etc.

The IODH 212 may perform operations to manage the I/O user devices, suchas to handle maintenance (700 in FIG. 7) of the database 120 and/orperform registration (702 in FIG. 7) of the user terminal emulationapplications 110. For example, the IODH 212 may operate to register witha Skype service server the IP address of a Skype application, which isrun by or interfaced to the user terminal emulation application 110, andthe user's Skype name The CF 214 may be responsible for assigning an IPaddress to each user terminal emulation application 110. The IP addressto be assigned by the CF 214 may be received from the core network 210functionality such as a PDN-GW. The service GW 216 may interconnect theuser terminal emulation server 100 to a PSTN network, packet datanetwork gateway of a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) system,etc. The cellular system 200 can include a Core Network 210 having aHome Subscriber Server (HSS), a Policy and Charging Roles Function(PCRF), gateway (GW) and Mobility Management Entity (MME) providingcontrol signaling related to mobile terminal mobility and security forthe radio access. The HSS contains subscriber-related information andprovides support functionality for user authentication and user accessto the system. The PCRF enables QoS control per data flow and radiobearer, by setting QoS rules for each data flow, based on operator setpolicies and subscriber information. The GW can include a Serving GW(S-GW) and a Packet Data Network GW (PDN-GW), where the S-GWinterconnects the core network 210 with the radio access network 220 androutes incoming and outgoing packets for the I/O user devices 232 and/or130 and the user terminals 230. The PDN-GW interconnects the corenetwork 210 with external infrastructure 240, such as the Internet, andallocates IP-addresses and performs policy control and charging.

Some I/O user devices 232 having cellular communication capability cancommunicate via, e.g., eNBs or other radio access nodes of a RadioAccess Network 220 with the operator service node 202 via the corenetwork 210. In the system of FIG. 2, the user terminal emulation server100 may handle set up of a communication service between a selected setof the I/O user devices are proximate to a user and a remote userterminal 230 (e.g., smart phone) via the cellular system 200.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the user terminal emulationserver 100 communicating in a different manner with various elements ofa cellular system 200, which may operate as the network entity 140 (FIG.1), to provide communication services in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure. The system of FIG. 3 differs fromthe system of FIG. 2 by the user terminal emulation server 100 being anInternet service within external infrastructure 240 outside of thecellular system 200. In the system of FIG. 3, the CF 214 may determinethe IP address to be assigned to different ones of the user terminalemulation applications 110 based on signaling from the Internet servicewithin the external infrastructure 240.

The above and other operations will now be described in further detailin the context of three different example “use cases”: 1) incoming callscenario; 2) outgoing call scenario; and 3) share of I/O user devicesscenario (sharing of physical resources and/or capabilities).

Use Case 1: Incoming Call Scenario

This use case involves a user, with a UserTag or other way of beingidentified, being proximately located to I/O user devices 130 havingdifferent UI capabilities when an incoming call is received by the userterminal emulation server. Although operations are explained below inthe context of identifying a user through a physical UserTag carried bythe user, these operations are not limited thereto and may be used withany other way of identifying a user, such as by sensing biometricinformation that identifies the user.

A user terminal emulation application 110 may be instantiated orotherwise activated responsive by an incoming call (service, session)targeting the UserTag. The user terminal emulation application 110 canidentify subscriptions associated with the UserTag (i.e. the physicaluser) and preferred methods of communication (e.g., audio not video,audio and video, etc.) that have been specified by the user, anddetermines the UI capabilities of the I/O user devices that will beneeded to satisfy the UI capabilities which may be specified for theincoming communication session. The user terminal emulation application110 may ask the IODH to identify which I/O user devices 130 areproximately located to the UserTag, and may further ask the IODH todetermine or may determine itself whether the identified I/O userdevices 130 are combinable to satisfy the UI capabilities specified bythe incoming communication session. The user terminal emulationapplication 110 and/or the IODH may receive an ACK or NACK back onwhether a sufficient set of I/O user devices 130 can be used to providethe communication service. If ACK, then the IODH also sets the state ofthe I/O user devices 130 in the set to in-use to avoid another userterminal emulation application 110 attempting to utilize the same I/Ouser devices 130 as which are presently in use. In case of NACK, theuser terminal emulation application 110 and/or the IODH can takedifferent actions to setup a reduced UI capability communication servicewith the user depending on user settings, e.g. only allow sound-basedcommunications instead of a combination of sound and video responsive towhen no display device is presently available for use. An example of nodisplay device being available may occur when the only display devicethat is proximately located to the user is presently being used byanother user to receive information from another user terminal emulationapplication during an ongoing communication service or when no displaydevice is proximately located to the user.

FIG. 4 is a combined flowchart of operations and related data flowsbetween UserTags, I/O user devices, and the user terminal emulationserver in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.Referring to FIG. 4, a UserTag enters a room and signals 400 itspresence to any proximately located and capable I/O user device in theroom using a discovery beacon signal. Alternatively, one or more of theI/O user devices determines presence of the UserTag by polling 402, suchas by periodically transmitting discover beacon signals that triggerresponsive signaling by the UserTag. The I/O user devices that receivesignaling indicated presence of the UserTag report 404 to the IODH inthe user terminal emulation server along with a network address of theI/O user device (e.g., IP address, port number, MAC address, FQDN,etc.). The user terminal emulation application corresponding to thespecific user (i.e., the UserTag) is updated 406 with respect to thedetected user's presence. The IODH may operate to receive thenotifications from the I/O user devices proximately located to theUserTag. Further UI capability discovery (synchronization)communications 410 are performed between the user terminal emulationserver and the I/O user devices. The I/O user devices are associated tothe user in the database, along with associated indicationssubscriptions, combinable UI capabilities provided by the set of I/Ouser devices which are proximately located to the UserTag. One or moreof the I/O user devices may be selected for default call receptionACK/NACK. By operation 412 the user via the UserTag is now known to bereachable within the system through an identified set of I/O userdevices with identified UI capabilities (e.g., speakers yes/no, displayyes/no, microphone yes/no, keyboard yes/no, etc.), thereby creating alogical virtualized user terminal through which the user may be providedin a communication service. The user may initiate a communicationservice through a touchscreen, voice command sensed by a microphone,performing a defined gesture observable by a camera, and/or other inputprovided to one of the proximately located I/O user devices.

In operation 414, an incoming session (e.g., video call) from arequesting user terminal which is directed to the user (UserTag) arrivesat the user terminal emulation server for the user carrying the UserTag.In operation 416 the combinable UI capabilities of the available I/Ouser devices is compared to the UI requirements of the incoming session.When the UI requirements of the incoming session are not satisfied bythe combinable UI capabilities of the I/O user devices, the userterminal emulation server may renegotiate 416 the required UIcapabilities (e.g., QoS) of the incoming session. In contrast, when theUI requirements of the incoming session are satisfied by the combinableUI capabilities of the I/O user devices the user terminal emulationserver prompts, via one or more of the available I/O user devices (e.g.,a pre-selected answer device), the user carrying the UserTag to providea session request answer (ACK/NACK). The user responds through thepre-selected answer device 420 to accept (ACK) or reject (NACK) theincoming session, to provide signaling 422 to the user terminalemulation server. When an ACK is received, operations 424 route an audiostream from the requesting user terminal to one of the I/O user devicesin the set that has a speaker capability via one or more sessions 426,and routes a video stream from the requesting user terminal to anotherone of the I/O user devices in the set that has a display capability viaone or more sessions 426. A data stream that is received from one of I/Ouser devices in the set through a one or more sessions 429 is routed 430toward the requesting user terminal. When two or more data streams arereceived through one or more sessions 429 from the I/O user devices,they can be combined into a combined data stream that is routed 430toward the requesting user terminal.

The user terminal emulation server may perform operations 428 tocontinuously monitor presence of the I/O user devices to determine whenone or more of I/O user devices is no longer proximately located to theuser such that it can no longer be included as part of the combined UIbe provided during the ongoing communication session. The user terminalemulation server may substitute the UI capability of another I/O userdevice to the set being used by the user for the ongoing communicationsession responsive to a previous member of the set no longer havingrequired presence.

Use Case 2, Outgoing Call

This use case involves a user, with a UserTag, being proximately locatedto I/O user devices 130 having different UI capabilities when anoutgoing call (communication session) is received by the user terminalemulation server. The I/O user devices 130 are associated to theidentified user via the user terminal emulation server 100 which handlesall communications sessions for the user while the associated I/O userdevices 130 are managed by an IODH.

A user terminal emulation application 110 may be instantiated orotherwise activated responsive by an outgoing call being requested by auser carrying the UserTag. The user may initiate an outgoing callthrough a touchscreen, voice command sensed by a microphone, performinga defined gesture observable by a camera, and/or other input provided toone of the proximately located I/O user devices.

The user terminal emulation application 110 can identify subscriptionsassociated with the UserTag (i.e. the physical user) and preferredmethods of communication (e.g., audio not video, audio and video, etc.)that have been specified by the user, and determines the UI capabilitiesof the I/O user devices that will be needed to satisfy the UIcapabilities which may be specified for the outgoing call. The userterminal emulation application 110 may ask the IODH to identify whichI/O user devices 130 are proximately located to the UserTag, and mayfurther ask the IODH to determine or may determine itself whether theidentified I/O user devices 130 are combinable to satisfy the UIcapabilities specified by the outgoing call. The user terminal emulationapplication 110 and/or the IODH may receive an ACK or NACK back onwhether a sufficient set of I/O user devices 130 can be used to providethe communication service. If ACK, then the IODH also sets the state ofthe I/O user devices 130 in the set to in-use to avoid another userterminal emulation application 110 attempting to utilize the same I/Ouser devices 130 as which are presently in use. In case of NACK, theuser terminal emulation application 110 and/or the IODH can takedifferent actions to setup a reduced UI capability communication servicewith the user depending on user settings, e.g. only allow sound insteadof the preferred sound and video responsive to when no display device ispresently available for use (e.g., when presently used by another userterminal emulation application 110 or when none is proximately locatedto the UserTag).

FIG. 5 is a combined flowchart of operations for an outgoing call andrelated data flows between UserTags, I/O user devices, and the userterminal emulation server in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 5, a UserTag enters a room andsignals 500 its presence to any proximately located and capable I/O userdevice in the room using a discovery beacon signal. Alternatively, oneor more of the I/O user devices determines presence of the UserTag bypolling 502, such as by periodically transmitting discover beaconsignals that trigger responsive signaling by the UserTag. The I/O userdevices that receive signaling indicated presence of the UserTag report504 to the IODH in the user terminal emulation server along with anetwork address of the I/O user device (e.g., IP address, port number,MAC address, FQDN, etc.). The user terminal emulation applicationcorresponding to the specific user (i.e., the UserTag) is updated 506with respect to the detected user's presence.

The IODH may operate to receive the notifications from the I/O userdevices proximately located to the UserTag. Further UI capabilitydiscovery (synchronization) communications 510 are performed between theuser terminal emulation server and the I/O user devices. The I/O userdevices are associated to the user in the database, along withassociated indications subscriptions, combinable UI capabilitiesprovided by the set of I/O user devices which are proximately located tothe UserTag. One or more of the I/O user devices may be selected fordefault call reception ACK/NACK. By operation 512 the user via theUserTag is now known to be reachable within the system through anidentified set of I/O user devices with identified UI capabilities(e.g., speakers yes/no, display yes/no, microphone yes/no, keyboardyes/no, etc.), thereby creating a logical virtualized user terminalthrough which the user may be provided in a communication service. Theuser may initiate a communication service through a touchscreen, voicecommand sensed by a microphone, performing a defined gesture observableby a camera, and/or other input provided to one of the proximatelylocated I/O user devices.

In operation 514, a user carrying the UserTag uses the UI of one of theI/O user devices to trigger 514 an outgoing call (e.g., video call),which triggers signaling 516 of the outgoing call to the user terminalemulation server. In operation 518 the IODH queries the user (e.g.,displays a message, generates a sound, etc.) through one of the I/O userdevices proximately located to the user to request the user to selectamong available types of communication methods that can be presentlyused for the outgoing call. One of the I/O user devices providesresponsive signaling 520 to the IODH indicating the user's selected typeof communication method for the outgoing call. In operation 522 the userterminal emulation server communicates an outgoing session streamrequest to the network entity 150, where the request may include anidentifier of the calling user, identifier of the user terminal of thecalled user, and a quality of service for the communication session. Inoperation 522, the user terminal emulation server receives acommunication session acceptance (ACK) or denial (NACK) from the networkentity 150. When the communication session is denied, the user terminalemulation server may attempt to renegotiate 524 the requestedcommunication session such as at a lower quality of service.

When the communication session is accepted (ACK), for each data typethat is received 528 as communication traffic from the requesting userterminal, the user terminal emulation server selects one of the I/O userdevices from among the set of I/O user devices based on matchingcharacteristics of the data type to the UI capabilities identified bythe database for the one of the I/O user devices, and then routes 530the data of the data type toward the network address of the selected oneof the I/O user devices. The data originating ones of the I/O userdevices transmit 532 data stream through one or more sessions 536 to theuser terminal emulation server, which may combine 538 the data streamsinto a combined data stream that is routed 540 toward the called userterminals via the network entity 150.

The user terminal emulation server may continuously monitor 534 presenceof the I/O user devices to determine when one or more of I/O userdevices is no longer proximately located to the user such that it can nolonger be included as part of the combined UI be provided during theongoing communication session. The user terminal emulation server maysubstitute the UI capability of another I/O user device to the set beingused by the user for the ongoing communication session responsive to aprevious member of the set no longer having required presence.

Use Case 3, Users Sharing I/O User Devices (Physical Resources, UICapabilities)

The third use case is directed to a scenario where two or more users arelocated in a physical area having a number of I/O user devices withcombined UI capabilities that are insufficient to satisfy the UIrequirements needed to support time overlapping communication sessionswithout sharing of some of the I/O user devices by the two users. Inthis case, both users' ID entities, i.e. UserTags will be detected inthe proximity of some I/O user devices which the IODH then associates tothe users' respective user terminal emulation applications 110.

In the illustration of FIG. 6, user terminal emulation application #1 isalready handling an ongoing communication session in which some of theassociated I/O user devices are allocated and in use by a first usercorresponding to UserTag #1; this means the example starts after block430 in FIG. 4. At that point in time, another second user carryingUserTag#2 enters the physical area.

In block 610 the UserTag#2 becomes proximately located to at least oneof the I/O user devices being presently utilized by user terminalemulation application #1. The at least one of the I/O user devicesdetects UserTag#2. The user terminal emulation application #2 isresponsibly instantiated on the user terminal emulation server 100 bythe IODH.

In block 612, a request for a new communication session is receivedwhich is intended for the user terminal emulation application #2. Inblock 614 the IODH considers priorities among the user terminalimmolation applications have been instantiated. The IODH comparessubscriptions of currently hosted (ongoing) user terminal emulationapplication #1 sessions to those of the new incoming request for acommunication session towards the user terminal emulation application#2.

If a prioritization is not identified, the user terminal emulationapplications are treated equally so that available I/O user devices withtheir UI capabilities are allocated on a first-come-first-served mannerIn contrast, if a prioritization is identified, the IODH operates to:assign a priority to certain I/O user devices for the user terminalemulation application having the highest priority according to definedQoS/capability prioritization rules; with certain UI capabilitiespresent at certain types of I/O user devices, some UI capabilities areoperationally shared between the first and second users (e.g., asufficiently large display screen can be split in half with the halvesrespectively assigned to the first and second users).

In the present scenario, the user terminal emulation applications #1 and#2 are treated equally without prioritization, which applies to alloperations within reference block 611.

In block 616 the IODH assesses the request to capabilities of the seconduser and user terminal emulation application #2 (consideringprioritization's established in the previous step, if any). If theincoming request is not supported (e.g., there are no available orinsufficient available I/O user devices determined (via query 617 to I/Ouser devices) to satisfy the required UI capabilities) by the userterminal emulation application #2 irrespective of any priorities, theIODH may operate to negotiate UI capabilities/QoS with the networkentity which sent the session request for the second user. In contrast,if the incoming request is supported by the UI capabilities provided bythe user device emulation application #2 for the requested communicationsession, as determined by the user terminal emulation application #2querying 618 the available I/O user devices, then an ACK is communicatedto the network entity 150.

If the incoming communication request can be supported by the userterminal emulation application #2 when granted some priority for use ofone or more of the I/O user devices being presently used by the userterminal emulation application #1, the operations of block 619 can beperformed to preempt or cause sharing of the one or more of the I/O userdevices that are presently being used by the user terminal emulationapplication #1. The IODH and/or the user terminal emulation application#1 may then renegotiate 622 with the network entity 150 the required UIcapabilities of the communication session of the user terminal emulationapplication #1 for the first user. The user terminal emulationapplication #1 may receive a session ACK/NACK generated 620 by the oneor more of the preempted or shared I/O user devices with the userterminal emulation application #2 indicating what UI capabilities areavailable for use by the user terminal emulation application #1, and mayresponsively terminate the existing communication session if therequired UI capability provided by the I/O user devices is no longersufficient for use by the user terminal emulation application #1 for thecommunication session.

In block 624, the user terminal emulation application #2 queries thesecond user through a preselected one of the I/O user devices forwhether the requested communication session is accepted. The preselectedone of I/O user devices may display 626 a prompt querying the seconduser for an answer, which is provided 628 as an ACK/NACK to the userterminal emulation application #2. When the second user accepts thecommunication session (ACK), a communication service is establishedbetween the second user and a remote user terminal through the userterminal emulation application #2 and the network entity 150.

An I/O user device presence monitor may operate as a function of theIODH to monitor (continuously, periodically, or responsive to occurrenceof a defined event) an ongoing communication session to ensure that allUI capabilities provided by the set of I/O user devices remainsproximately located and operationally available to the user.

Exchange of messages between the different system entities can becarried out using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with the SessionDescription Protocol (SDP) with possible some minor changes regardingthe current supported methods in the protocols and media formats. UsingSIP/SDP may be advantageous as the connections between the I/O userdevices and user terminal emulation applications can be a SIP sessionwhich may set up in a manner similar to that between two VoIP clients.

More generally, the operations performed by the user terminal emulationserver can include receiving another communication request from thenetwork entity for establishing another communication service betweenanother user and another requesting user terminal. Responsive to theanother communication request, the operations determine whether anotherset of I/O user devices among the I/O user devices identified by thedatabase are determined to be proximately located to a location of theanother user and available for use for the another communication serviceand are further determined, based on the UI capabilities identified bythe database for the another set of I/O user devices, to satisfy thecombined capability rule for being combinable to provide a combined I/OUI for the another user to interface with another user terminalemulation application to provide the another communication service.Based on determining that no other set of I/O user devices is determinedto satisfy the combined capability rule, available for use by theanother communication service, and proximately located to the locationof the another user, the operations responsively configure one of theI/O user devices in the set of I/O user devices that is proximatelylocated to the another user but is currently being used by the user, tooperate to provide a shared UI that is used by the user while thecommunication service is continuing to be provided to the user and thatis further used by the another user while the another communicationservice is provided to the another user.

In one example, information that is directed to the user can be routedfor display in one half of a screen of the display device, andinformation that is directed to the other user can be routed for displayin the other half of the screen of the display device. In anotherexample, a keyboard can be shared by two users who identify themselvesvia the keyboard (e.g., by typing a user ID, scanning the UserTag,biometric scan, etc.) at the time they are entering information, so thatthe server can selectively route the keyboard entries to the correct oneof the two user terminal emulation applications.

Use Case 4, Mobility Handling

In this context, I/O user devices and/or a UserTag can be moving suchthat over time the set of I/O user devices that are proximately locatedto the UserTag changes. Moreover, such changes may be caused by one ormore of I/O user devices becoming non-operational (e.g., loss of power)or when the radio air interface there between becomes obstructed or issubjected to excessive radio interference. The IODH can be configured todynamically determine which of the I/O user devices remains availablefor association with the UserTag.

In one embodiment, mobility aspects are monitored by the I/O user devicepresence monitor (IODPM) located in the IODH, as illustrated in block428 in FIGS. 4 and block 534 in FIG. 5. When the IODPM discovers that acurrent user terminal emulation application (i.e. implicitly some of theI/O user devices it utilizes) no longer has access to a sufficient UIcapability through the set of I/O user devices, e.g., which may resultin violating a QoS contract for the present communication session, theIODPM can trigger re-negotiation of the UI capability requirements forthe communication session through the network entity 150 and possiblywith the remote user terminal.

Operational Problems with Real Time Protocol Flows

Some transmission protocols like Real Time Protocol (RTP) require anout-of-band method for synchronizing media streams. In RTP's case, eachmedia stream has its own timestamp using an independent clock rate andper-stream randomized starting value.

A Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP) Sender Report (SR) is needed foreach stream to synchronize streams. The necessary RTCP packets might belost (since RTP/RTCP does not guarantee delivery) or not sent until atleast several seconds after the stream has begun. Many software clientsdo not send RTCP at all or send non-compliant data.

Audio to Video Synchronization is commonly corrected and maintained withan audio synchronizer. Television industry standards organizations haveestablished acceptable amounts of audio and video timing error andsuggested practices related to maintaining acceptable timing.

For television applications, the Advanced Television Systems Committeerecommends that audio should lead video by no more than 15 ms and audioshould lag video by no more than 45 ms. However, the ITU performedstrictly controlled tests with expert viewers and found that thethreshold for detectability is −125 ms to +45 ms. For film, acceptablelip sync is no more than 22 ms in either direction.

The RTP clocks media using origination timestamps on an arbitrarytimeline. A real-time clock such as one delivered by the Network TimeProtocol and described in the Session Description Protocol associatedwith the media may be used to synchronize media. A server may then beused to for final synchronization to remove any residual offset.

The Sender Report (SR) is sent periodically by the active senders in aconference to report transmission and reception statistics for all RTPpackets sent during the interval. The sender report includes an absolutetimestamp, which is the number of seconds elapsed since midnight on Jan.1, 1900. The absolute timestamp allows the receiver to synchronize RTPmessages. It is particularly important when both audio and video aretransmitted simultaneously, because audio and video streams useindependent relative timestamps.

Existing standardized in industry approaches do not provide sufficientoperational functionality for use in a cloud-based software-definedsmartphone or other I/O user devices, to split and/or combine mediacontent streams to and from each unique individual physical I/O userdevice, and to adapt the split or combined streams to differentcommunication services need for the set of I/O user devices providing auser communication service.

A particularly important metric is the lag between voice and video, andthis lag (and its jitter) should be kept at a minimum.

For practical purposes I/O user devices should be sufficiently simpleand only hold basic protocol conversion (media stream translation)capabilities; hence, it is preferable that any content re-processing ortranslation is performed in the cloud, but with constraints of timelydelivery to receiving nodes (i.e. the I/O user devices), or in theopposite direction, that individual streams from logically joined butphysically separated I/O user devices are coherently combined anddelivered upstream to receiving nodes (i.e., the network entity).

Controlling Timing and Format of Flows

Some further embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toformatting downlink flow components of a downlink flow that has beensplit for transmission to a set of I/O user devices based on the variouscommunication protocols of those I/O user devices. These embodimentsalso control timing for when the formatted downlink flow components areseparately transmitted to the I/O user devices based on delay profileseach of which indicate a communication delay associated withcommunicating with a different one of the I/O user devices in the set.Other related embodiments are directed to corresponding operations thatare performed for combining uplink flows from I/O user devices. Theuplink flow operations can include receiving uplink flow components fromthe I/O user devices in a set, combining the uplink flow components intoa combined uplink flow including by formatting the uplink flowcomponents for transmission to the network entity while possibly alsoperforming time alignment, and initiating transmission of the combineduplink flow to the network entity. These and related embodiments fullydescribed below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9-15.

Example Timing and Format Control Operations in the Context of FIG. 1

Example timing and format control operations will now be described inthe context of FIG. 1. Referring again to FIG. 1, a real-time sessioncan be created between the user terminal emulation applications 110,which is processed by the user terminal emulation server 100, and eachof the I/O user devices 130. The real-time session can be setup using,e.g., SIP. Data that is to be transferred between the user terminalemulation server 100 and an I/O user device 130 can be sent by the RTPprotocol suit.

The data exchanged between the user terminal emulation server 100 and anI/O user device 130 can be treated as real-time data, although theoriginal data between the user terminal emulation application 110 andits peer, e.g. the network entity 150 hosting a streaming client and astreaming server, have a different characteristic, e.g. streaming video.Hence, the user terminal emulation server 100 is configured to perform adata reformatting (“formatting”) functionality that takes one type ofreceived application data from the network entity 150 and processes itto a data format that is compatible with what the I/O user device 130can use to convey the information via its UI capability to the end-user(“user”). A similar procedure can be performed with data received fromthe I/O user devices 130 and intended to the network entity 150.

Hence, in the direction from the network entity 150 to a I/O user device130, the user terminal emulation server 100 (running an instance of theuser terminal emulation application 110) receives the data, decodes thedata and reformats the data to the format that is compatible with thetargeted I/O user device(s). Reformatting of the data can includepackaging the data into a data format that the I/O user device 130operationally understands, such as by adding a header to the data whenforming an application layer packet for the I/O user device 130. Thenewly created application layer protocol packet is sent to the I/O userdevice 130. The I/O user device 130 receive the packet, processes thepacket header and performs appropriate action(s) to convey theinformation of the data in the packet to the user through the UI of theI/O user device 130 (e.g., display device, speaker device, tactilefeedback device, etc.).

For example, when the emulation server 100 is performing an on-demandstreaming application 110, the emulation server 100 can split on-demandvideo streaming data into multiple downlink flow components which itreformats to be compatible with requirements of the I/O user devices 130in the set that is providing the user interface to a user, and controlsrelative timing of when the downlink flow components are transmitted toindividual ones of the I/O user devices 130 based on the associateddelay profiles for those I/O user devices 130. Example operations fordetermining and using delay profiles to control timing of transmissionswill be described in further detail below in the context of subsequentfigures.

In the direction from an I/O user device 130 to the network entity 150,such as when a user takes an action by talking into a microphone duringa real-time conversation, the I/O user device processes the user input(e.g., creates digitized encoded voice) and creates a series of dataunits that are buffered in an output buffer. The I/O user device 130takes a data unit from the buffer and creates an application layerpacket, the application layer packet is then sent to the associatedemulation application 110 processed by the emulation server 100. Theemulation server 100 receives the application layer packet, formats thedata unit to a type of data unit that can be operationally used by thenetwork entity 150. The emulation server 100 packages the data unit intoan application layer packet and sends it onwards to the network entity150.

When the format of the first data unit and the second data unit is ofthe same type, and hence the first and second package format is also ofthe same type, formatting that takes place in the emulation server 100may only be a change of some or all package header fields of theapplication layer packet.

In the reverse direction from the network entity 150 to a set of I/Ouser devices, where several packet streams from the network entity 150together need to be provided to the user using the combined userinterface capabilities of a set of I/O user devices 130. For example, areal-time conversational video service can have one audio stream and onevideo stream, the streams need to be conveyed to the user in a timesynchronized way. To avoid inter-stream synchronization problems, suchas when the user would observe lip-synchronization time offsets, theemulation server 100 can provide time synchronization between when therelated audio and video streams are transmitted to the respective I/Ouser devices in the set. The RTP protocol suit provides part of thesynchronization for inter-stream by having each RTP stream accompaniedby a Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP) stream that carries both the RTPtimestamp and the network time protocol (NTP) timestamp.

Another example of a data formatting operation by the emulation server100 is where the data unit from the network entity 150 contains audioinformation intended for a stereo, e.g., 5:1 system, a set of fivespeaker device type I/O user devices 130 are selected and the formattingoperation receives as input one data unit and it spits and reformatsinto 5 data units that are directed to the 5 different receiving speakerdevices. Then in a further aspect, the speaker device type I/O userdevices 130 may notify the emulation server 100 (i.e., the IODH 212 ofFIG. 2) of their respective positions in a room, in relation to theassociated UserTag, etc., enabling for the emulation server 100 (IODH212) to pre-process the audio stream so that the correct audio channelcomponent is transmitted to the appropriate speaker device with respectto the speaker devices' and UserTags' relative positions.

Further Operations For Controlling Downlink Flow Timing and Formatting

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of downlink flow functional components of theuser terminal emulation server 100 that are configured to operate inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is aflowchart of downlink flow operations that may be performed by the userterminal emulation server 100 to provide communication services througha set of I/O user devices in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 11, the downlink flow functional components ofthe user terminal emulation server 100 are configured to split adownlink flow from the network entity 150 into a plurality of flowcomponents that are formatted for communication to respective I/O userdevices having the I/O user interface capabilities that will operate toconvey content of the flow components (e.g., display, generate audiooutput, cause tactile feedback, etc.) to a user during a communicationservice. The functional components also control timing for when thedownlink flow components are transmitted to each of the I/O user devicesbased on a delay profile that has been determined for communicationswith the I/O user device.

The user terminal emulation server 100 may synchronize transmissions ofthe downlink flow components so that the I/O user devices receive themsubstantially concurrently. For example, a first downlink flow componenthaving a delay profile indicating it will be transmitted through afaster first communication link to a first I/O user device may bedelayed so that the first downlink flow component will be receivedsubstantially concurrently with a second downlink flow component havinga delay profile indicating it is transmitted through a slower secondcommunication link to a second I/O user device.

Alternatively, the user terminal emulation server 100 may control timingfor when individual downlink flow components are transmitted toindividual I/O user devices based on processing delays introduced by theindividual I/O user devices, so that the I/O user devices generateoutputs to the user at substantially the same time. For example, assumea first I/O user device has a delay profile indicating less processingdelay than a second I/O user device between receipt of a downlink flowcomponent to corresponding output of content to a user. The emulationserver 100 can delay transmission of a first downlink flow component tothe first I/O user device relative to transmission of a second downlinkflow component to the second I/O user device so that the first andsecond I/O user devices each generate output to the user atsubstantially the same time.

In the context of the particular examples of FIGS. 9 and 11, theemulation server 100 maintains 1100 a database 120 (FIG. 15) thatidentifies network addresses of I/O user devices, UI capabilities of theI/O user devices, and communication protocols of the I/O user devices,based on content of registration messages which can be received from auser, the I/O user devices, or another network component. The emulationserver 100 receives 1102 a communication request from the network entity150 for establishing a communication service between a user and thenetwork entity. The emulation server 100 responds to the communicationrequest by performing operations to provide 1104 communication sessionsbetween a user terminal emulation application 110 (FIG. 1) and thenetwork entity 150 and between the user terminal emulation application110 (FIG. 1) and a set of the I/O user devices (“First I/O user device130 a”) and (“Second I/O user device 130 b”) that are determined to beproximately located to a location of the user and that satisfy acombined capability rule for being combinable to provide a combined I/Ouser interface for the user to interface with the user terminalemulation application 110 (FIG. 1) to perform the communication service.

The emulation server 100 determines 1105 delay profiles for thecommunication sessions between the user terminal emulation application110 (FIG. 1) and the I/O user devices in the set (130 a and 130 b). Eachof the delay profiles indicates a communication delay associated withcommunicating with a different one of the I/O user devices in the set(130 a and 130 b). As used herein, for each of the I/O user devices inthe set the associated delay profile may characterize any one or more ofthe following: 1) elapsed time between initiating transmission of apacket of a downlink flow component from the emulation server 100 untilthe I/O user device completes receipt of the packet; 2) amount ofcommunication jitter as a variation in communication delays occurringover time in communications from the emulation server 100 to the I/Ouser device; and 3) processing delay between receipt of a packet andoutput of content to a user through a UI capability of the I/O userdevice. The delay profiles may be directly measured by the emulationserver 100, determined based on reports from the I/O user devices and/oranother system component, and/or may be determined based on identifiersof the I/O user devices.

The emulation server 100 receives 1106 a downlink flow 940 from thenetwork entity 150. A downlink flow receiver and component splitter 900splits the downlink flow 940 into a plurality of downlink flowcomponents that are assigned to different ones of the I/O user devicesin the set. The different ones of the downlink flow components in theset have different UI characteristic that match the UI capabilitiesidentified by the database 120 (FIG. 15) for the different ones of theI/O user devices in the set. In the example of FIG. 9, the splitter 900splits the downlink flow 940 into first and second downlink flowcomponents 942 a and 942 b.

A streaming protocol transmission formatter 910 a formats 1112 the firstdownlink flow component 942 a for transmission to the first I/O userdevice 130 a based on the communication protocol of the first I/O userdevice 130 a identified by the database 120 (FIG. 15). In the example ofFIG. 9, the formatter 910 a formats the first downlink flow component942 a to generate RTP flow 946 a and RTCP flow 947 a which are providedto a transmission timing controller 912 a. The transmission timingcontroller 912 a controls 1116 timing for when the formatted downlinkflow component (e.g., RTP flow 946 a and RTCP flow 947 a ) aretransmitted to the first I/O user device 130 a based on the delayprofile associated with communicating with the first I/O user device 130a. The emulation server 100 initiates 1114 transmission of the formatteddownlink flow component to the first I/O user device 130 a at a timeevent controlled by the transmission timing controller 912 a relative totime indicated by the common time clock such as one provided by anetwork time protocol (NTP) module 930.

Similar operations are performed in parallel on the second downlink flowcomponent 942 b. A streaming protocol transmission formatter 910 bformats 1112 the second downlink flow component 942 b for transmissionto the second I/O user device 130 b based on the communication protocolof the second I/O user device 130 b identified by the database 120 (FIG.15). The formatter 910 b formats the second downlink flow component 942b to generate Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) flow 946 b andReal-time Control Transport Protocol (RTCP) flow 947 b which areprovided to a transmission timing controller 912 b. The transmissiontiming controller 912 b controls 1116 timing for when the formatteddownlink flow component (e.g., RTP flow 946 b and RTCP flow 947 b ) aretransmitted to the second I/O user device 130 b based on the delayprofile associated with communicating with the second I/O user device130 b. The emulation server 100 initiates 1114 transmission of theformatted downlink flow component to the second I/O user device 130 b ata time event controlled by the transmission timing controller 912 brelative to time indicated by the NTP module 930.

The operations by the formatters 910 a and 910 b to format 1112 thefirst and second downlink flow components 942 a and 942 b fortransmission to the respective first and second I/O user devices 130 aand 130 b based on their respective communication protocols identifiedby the database 120 (FIG. 15), can include adding a timestamp (e.g., toa flow packet header), based on a common time clock such as from the NTPmodule 930, to each of the downlink flow components.

The operations by the transmission timing controller is 912 a and 912 bto control 1116 timing for when the respective formatted downlink flowcomponents are transmitted to the respective first and second I/O userdevices 130 a and 130 b, can include controlling the timing so the RTPformatted downlink flow components 946 a and 946 b are substantiallytime aligned when transmitted as RTP flows 948 a and 948 b.

For example, the operations to control 1116 timing for when theformatted downlink flow components (e.g., RTP flow) are transmitted caninclude comparing the delay profiles associated with communicating withthe first and second I/O user devices 130 a and 130 b, and controlling,based on the comparison of the delay profiles, timing offsets betweenwhen individual ones of the downlink flow components are transmitted sothe downlink flow components are received at substantially the same timeby the first and second I/O user devices 130 a and 130 b.

As explained above, each of the delay profiles may be determined basedon communication jitter associated with communicating with a differentone of the I/O user devices in the set, i.e., first and second I/O userdevices 130 a and 130 b, where the communication jitter is determinedbased on variations in the communication delays that are measured overtime for communications from the emulation server 100 to the one of theI/O user devices in the set.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 13, the emulation server 100 mayrepeat for each of the I/O user devices in the set and operation todetermine 1300 a delay profile based on a downlink flow processing delayof the I/O user device, where the downlink flow processing delay isbased on a time delay between the I/O user device receiving a downlinkflow component to outputting a result from processing of at least aportion of the downlink flow component. For each of the downlink flowcomponents, the emulation server 100 may repeat operations to control1302 timing for when the downlink flow component is transmitted to theassigned I/O user device based on the delay profile associated with theassigned I/O user device.

The operation to determine 1300 the delay profile based on the downlinkflow processing delay of the I/O user device, can include repeating foreach of the I/O user devices in the set a determination of a time delaybetween initiating transmission of a response request to the I/O userdevice and receiving a response from the I/O user device through atleast one of the communication session and an earlier communicationsession. Thus, the time delay may be determined for a current ongoingcommunication session and/or may be determined based on one or moreearlier communication sessions that have since been terminated.

The operation to determine 1105 delay profiles for the communicationsessions between the user terminal emulation application and the I/Ouser devices in the set, can include repeating for each of the I/O userdevices in the set, controlling a rate at which the delay profile forthe communication session between the user terminal emulationapplication and the I/O user device is updated based on at least one of:rate of change of the communication delay; quality of service of thecommunication session between the user terminal emulation applicationand the I/O user device; and type of radio technology that is used toperform communications between the user terminal emulation applicationand the I/O user device. In this manner, the emulation server 100 canmore rapidly update the delay profile for a particular I/O user devicethat has a fast changing communication link with the emulation server100, while avoiding unnecessary processing overhead that would otherwiseresult if other delay profiles for other I/O user devices having morestable communication links were updated more frequently than needed totrack changes with those particular communication links.

Illustrative Operations For Speaker and Display Devices

Various further operations that can be performed by the user terminalemulation server 100 are now described with regard to FIG. 11 in thecontext of speaker devices and display devices, although theseoperations are not limited thereto or may be used with other types ofI/O user devices.

For these operations, a speaker device is one of the I/O user devices inthe set that is capable of playing an audio stream contained in thedownlink flow, and a display device is another one of the I/O userdevices in the set that is capable of displaying a video streamcontained in the downlink flow. The operation to split 1108 the downlinkflow into a plurality of downlink flow components that are assigned todifferent ones of the I/O user devices in the set, can includegenerating a first downlink flow component that contains the audiostream and does not contain the video stream, and generating a seconddownlink flow component that contains the video stream and does notcontain the audio stream.

The operation to format 1112 the downlink flow components fortransmission, can include formatting the first downlink flow componentcontaining the audio stream for transmission to the speaker device basedon the communication protocol of the speaker device identified by thedatabase, and formatting the second downlink flow component containingthe video stream for transmission to the display device based on thecommunication protocol of the display device identified by the database.

The operation to initiate 1114 transmission of the formatted componentsto the assigned I/O user devices in the set, can include initiatingtransmission of the formatted first downlink flow component to thespeaker device according to the communication protocol identified by thedatabase for the speaker device, and initiating transmission of theformatted second downlink flow component to the display device accordingto the communication protocol identified by the database for the displaydevice.

The operation to determine 1105 a delay profile can include determininga delay profile for the speaker device. The operation to determine 1105a delay profile can further include determining a delay profile for thedisplay device. The operation to control 1116 timing can includecontrolling timing for when the formatted first downlink flow componentis transmitted to the speaker device and for when the formatted seconddownlink flow component is transmitted to the display device based oncomparison of the delay profiles for the speaker and display devices.

The delay profile for the speaker device may be determined based onmeasurement of delay in receipt by the speaker device of communicationsfrom the user terminal emulation server. The delay profile for thedisplay device may be determined based on measurement of delay inreceipt by the display device of communications from the user terminalemulation server. The operation to control timing may includecontrolling when the formatted first downlink flow component istransmitted to the speaker device relative to when the formatted seconddownlink flow component is transmitted to the display device so theformatted first downlink flow component is received by the speakerdevice at substantially the same time that the formatted second downlinkflow component is received by the display device.

Alternatively or additionally, the delay profile for the speaker devicemay be determined based on measurement of processing delay between thespeaker device receiving a downlink flow component and completingprocessing to output an audio signal. The delay profile for the displaydevice may be determined based on measurement of processing delaybetween the display device receiving a downlink flow component andcompleting processing to display content. The operation to controltiming may include controlling when the formatted first downlink flowcomponent is transmitted to the speaker device relative to when theformatted second downlink flow component is transmitted to the displaydevice so the speaker device completes processing of the formatted firstdownlink flow component at substantially the same time that the displaydevice completes processing of the formatted second downlink flowcomponent.

Further Operations For Controlling Uplink Flow Timing and Formatting

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of uplink flow functional components of theuser terminal emulation server 100 that are configured to operate inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is aflowchart of uplink flow operations that may be performed by the userterminal emulation server 100 to provide communication services througha set of I/O user devices in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 12, the uplink flow functional components ofthe user terminal emulation server 100 are configured to receive 1200uplink flow components from the I/O user devices in the set. The uplinkflow functional components combined 1202 the uplink flow components intoa combined uplink flow, including by formatting 1203 the uplink flowcomponents for transmission to the network entity based on acommunication protocol of the network entity identified by the database.The uplink flow functional components then initiate 1206 transmission ofthe combined uplink flow 1034 to the network entity via thecommunication session between the user terminal emulation applicationand the network entity.

The operation to combine 1202 the uplink flow components into thecombined uplink flow, can include substantially time aligning 1204 theuplink flow components based on a common time clock when combining intothe combined uplink flow. Alternatively or additionally, the operationto combine 1202 the uplink flow components into the combined uplinkflow, can include substantially time aligning 1204 the uplink flowcomponents when combining into the combined uplink flow based on delayprofiles for the communication sessions between the user terminalemulation application and the I/O user devices in the set from which theuplink flow components were received.

In the context of the particular example of FIG. 10, a streamingprotocol receiver formatter 1000 a can receive and uplink flowcomponent, e.g. a pair of RTP and RTCP flows 1030 a and 1031 a, from thefirst I/O user device 130 a. Similarly, another streaming protocolreceiver formatter 1000 b can receive another uplink flow component,e.g. a pair of RTP and RTCP flows 1030 b and 1031 b, from the second I/Ouser device 130 b. The pair of receiver formatters 1000 a and 1000 b canformat the uplink flow components for transmission to the network entity150 based on communication protocol of the network entity that isidentified by the database 120 (FIG. 15). A pair of TX timingcontrollers 1010 a and 1010 b use the common time clock provided by theNTP module 932 substantially time align the uplink flow components 1032a and 1032 b. A combiner and transmitter 1020 combines the uplink flowcomponents 1032 a and 1032 b to generate a combined uplink flow 1034,and transmits the combined uplink flow 1034 to the network entity 150.

Example I/O User Device and User Terminal Emulation Server

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of hardware circuit components of an I/O userdevice 130 which are configured to operate in accordance with someembodiments. The I/O user device 130 can include a wired/wirelessnetwork interface circuit 1402, a near field communication circuit 1420,at least one processor circuit 1400 (processor), and at least one memorycircuit 1410 (memory). The processor 1400 is connected to communicatewith the other components. The memory 1410 stores program code (e.g.,user terminal emulation application(s)) 1412 that is executed by theprocessor 1400 to perform operations disclosed herein. The processor1400 may include one or more data processing circuits (e.g.,microprocessor and/or digital signal processor), which may be collocatedor distributed across one or more data networks. The processor 1400 isconfigured to execute the program code 1412 in the memory 1410,described below as a non-transitory computer readable medium, to performsome or all of the operations and methods for one or more of theembodiments disclosed herein for a mobile electronic device. The I/Ouser device 130 can include one or more UI component devices, includingwithout limitation, a microphone 1440, a speaker 1450, a camera 1430,and display device 1460, and a user input interface 1470.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of hardware circuit components of a userterminal emulation server 100 which are configured to operate inaccordance with some embodiments. The user terminal emulation server 100can include a wired/wireless network interface circuit 1520, a database120 (e.g., listing I/O user devices, UI capabilities of the I/O userdevices, communication protocols used to communicate with the I/O userdevices, known proximities to user identifiers, etc.), a display device1530, a user input interface 1540 (e.g., keyboard or touch sensitivedisplay), at least one processor circuit 1500 (processor), and at leastone memory circuit 1510 (memory). The processor 1500 is connected tocommunicate with the other components. The memory 1510 stores userterminal emulation application 1512 that is executed by the processor1500 to perform operations disclosed herein. The processor 1500 mayinclude one or more data processing circuits (e.g., microprocessorand/or digital signal processor), which may be collocated or distributedacross one or more data networks. The processor 1500 is configured toexecute computer program instructions in the memory 1510, describedbelow as a non-transitory computer readable medium, to perform some orall of the operations and methods for one or more of the embodimentsdisclosed herein for a mobile electronic device.

Cloud Implementation

Some or all operations described above as being performed by the userterminal emulation server 100 or the I/O user devices 130 mayalternatively be performed by the other one, and/or by another node thatis part of a cloud computing resource. For example, those operations canbe performed as a network function that is close to the edge, such as ina cloud server or a cloud resource of a telecommunications networkoperator, e.g., in a CloudRAN or a core network, and/or may be performedby a cloud server or a cloud resource of a media provider, e.g., iTunesservice provider or Spotify service provider.

ABBREVIATIONS

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project'

App Application, i.e. program

eNB Evolved Node B (a.k.a. RBS, Radio Base Station)

GW Gateway (also. acronym for Leif GW Persson)

ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol

IOD Input-Output Device

ITU International Telecommunication Union

RTP Real Time Protocol

RTCP Real Time Control Protocol

IOD Input Output Device

IODH Input Output Device Handler

NTP Network Time Protocol

SDP Session Description Protocol

SR Sender Response

UE User equipment

Further Definitions and Embodiments

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventiveconcepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwisedefined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) usedherein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art to which present inventive concepts belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of this specification andthe relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, theseelements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These termsare only used to distinguish one element/operation from anotherelement/operation. Thus, a first element/operation in some embodimentscould be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments withoutdeparting from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The samereference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same orsimilar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block orblocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventiveconcepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processorsuch as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referredto as “circuitry,” “a module” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/orblocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope ofinventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams includearrows on communication paths to show a primary direction ofcommunication, it is to be understood that communication may occur inthe opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present inventiveconcepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to beincluded herein within the scope of present inventive concepts.Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be consideredillustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended examples ofembodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements,and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of presentinventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, thescope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadestpermissible interpretation of the present disclosure including thefollowing examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall notbe restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

1. A user terminal emulation server for providing communication servicesusing sets of input and/or output, I/O, user devices, the user terminalemulation server performing operations comprising: maintaining adatabase that identifies network addresses of I/O user devices, userinterface, UI, capabilities of the I/O user devices, and communicationprotocols of the I/O user devices, based on content of receivedregistration messages; receiving a communication request from a networkentity for establishing a communication service between a user and thenetwork entity; and responsive to the communication request, performing:providing communication sessions between a user terminal emulationapplication and the network entity and between the user terminalemulation application and a set of the I/O user devices that aredetermined to be proximately located to a location of the user and thatsatisfy a combined capability rule for being combinable to provide acombined I/O user interface for the user to interface with the userterminal emulation application to perform the communication service;determining delay profiles for the communication sessions between theuser terminal emulation application and the I/O user devices in the set,wherein each of the delay profiles indicates a communication delayassociated with communicating with a different one of the I/O userdevices in the set; receiving a downlink flow from the network entity;splitting the downlink flow into a plurality of downlink flow componentsthat are assigned to different ones of the I/O user devices in the set,the different ones of the downlink flow components in the set havingdifferent UI characteristic that match the UI capabilities identified bythe database for the different ones of the I/O user devices in the set;and repeating for each of the downlink flow components, formatting thedownlink flow component for transmission to the assigned I/O user devicebased on the communication protocol of the assigned I/O user deviceidentified by the database, initiating transmission of the formatteddownlink flow component to the assigned I/O user device; and controllingtiming for when the formatted downlink flow component is transmitted tothe assigned I/O user device based on the delay profile associated withcommunicating with the assigned I/O user device.
 2. The user terminalemulation server of claim 1, wherein the operation to format thedownlink flow component for transmission to the assigned I/O user devicebased on the communication protocol of the assigned I/O user deviceidentified by the database, comprises: adding a timestamp, based on acommon time clock, to each of the downlink flow components.
 3. The userterminal emulation server of claim 1, wherein: repeating for each of thedownlink flow components, the operation to format the downlink flowcomponent comprises generating a Real-time Transport Protocol, RTP,formatted downlink flow component and a Real-time Control TransportProtocol, RTCP, formatted downlink flow component, the operation tocontrol timing for when the formatted downlink flow component istransmitted to the assigned I/O user device based on the delay profileassociated with communicating with the assigned I/O user device,comprises controlling the timing so the RTP formatted downlink flowcomponents for the assigned I/O user devices in the set aresubstantially time aligned based on a common time clock; and theoperation to initiate transmission of the formatted component operatesto initiate transmissions of the RTP formatted downlink flow componentto the assigned I/O user device.
 4. The user terminal emulation serverof claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise updating the commontime clock based on a Network Time Protocol, NTP.
 5. The user terminalemulation server of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:receiving uplink flow components from the I/O user devices in the set;combining the uplink flow components into a combined uplink flow,including by formatting the uplink flow components for transmission tothe network entity based on a communication protocol of the networkentity identified by the database; and initiating transmission of thecombined uplink flow to the network entity via the communication sessionbetween the user terminal emulation application and the network entity.6. The user terminal emulation server of claim 5, wherein the operationto combine the uplink flow components into the combined uplink flow,comprises: substantially time aligning the uplink flow components basedon a common time clock when combining into the combined uplink flow. 7.The user terminal emulation server of claim 5, wherein the operation tocombine the uplink flow components into the combined uplink flow,comprises: substantially time aligning the uplink flow components whencombining into the combined uplink flow based on delay profiles for thecommunication sessions between the user terminal emulation applicationand the I/O user devices in the set from which the uplink flowcomponents were received.
 8. The user terminal emulation server of claim1, wherein the operation to control timing for when the formatteddownlink flow component is transmitted to the assigned I/O user devicebased on the delay profile associated with communicating with theassigned I/O user device, comprises: comparing the delay profilesassociated with communicating with the assigned I/O user devices towhich the formatted downlink flow components are to be transmitted; andcontrolling, based on the comparison of the delay profiles, timingoffsets between when individual ones of the downlink flow components aretransmitted so the downlink flow components are received atsubstantially the same time by the I/O user devices in the set.
 9. Theuser terminal emulation server of claim 1, wherein: each of the delayprofiles is determined based on communication jitter associated withcommunicating with a different one of the I/O user devices in the set,the communication jitter being determined based on variations in thecommunication delays that are measured over time for communications fromthe user terminal emulation server to the one of the I/O user devices inthe set.
 10. The user terminal emulation server of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: repeating for each of the I/O user devicesin the set, determining a delay profile based on a downlink flowprocessing delay of the I/O user device, the downlink flow processingdelay is based on a time delay between the I/O user device receiving adownlink flow component to outputting a result from processing of atleast a portion of the downlink flow component; and repeating for eachof the downlink flow components, controlling timing for when thedownlink flow component is transmitted to the assigned I/O user devicebased on the delay profile associated with the assigned I/O user device.11. The user terminal emulation server of claim 10, wherein theoperations, repeating for each of the I/O user devices in the set, todetermine the delay profile based on the downlink flow processing delayof the I/O user device, comprise: repeating for each of the I/O userdevices in the set, determining a time delay between initiatingtransmission of a response request to the I/O user device and receivinga response from the I/O user device through at least one of thecommunication sessions and an earlier communication session.
 12. Theuser terminal emulation server of claim 1, wherein the operation todetermine delay profiles for the communication sessions between the userterminal emulation application and the I/O user devices in the set,comprises: repeating for each of the I/O user devices in the set,controlling a rate at which the delay profile for the communicationsession between the user terminal emulation application and the I/O userdevice is updated based on at least one of: rate of change of thecommunication delay; quality of service of the communication sessionbetween the user terminal emulation application and the I/O user device;and type of radio technology that is used to perform communicationsbetween the user terminal emulation application and the I/O user device.13. The user terminal emulation server of claim 1, wherein: a speakerdevice is one of the I/O user devices in the set capable of playing anaudio stream contained in the downlink flow; a display device is one ofthe I/O user devices in the set capable of displaying a video streamcontained in the downlink flow; the operation to split the downlink flowinto a plurality of downlink flow components that are assigned todifferent ones of the I/O user devices in the set, comprises: generatinga first downlink flow component that contains the audio stream and doesnot contain the video stream; and generating a second downlink flowcomponent that contains the video stream and does not contain the audiostream; the operation to format the downlink flow components fortransmission, comprise: formatting the first downlink flow componentcontaining the audio stream for transmission to the speaker device basedon the communication protocol of the speaker device identified by thedatabase; and formatting the second downlink flow component containingthe video stream for transmission to the display device based on thecommunication protocol of the display device identified by the database,and the operation to initiate transmission of the formatted componentsto the assigned I/O user devices in the set, comprise: initiatingtransmission of the formatted first downlink flow component to thespeaker device according to the communication protocol identified by thedatabase for the speaker device; and initiating transmission of theformatted second downlink flow component to the display device accordingto the communication protocol identified by the database for the displaydevice.
 14. The user terminal emulation server of claim 13, wherein: theoperation to determine a delay profile comprises determining a delayprofile for the speaker device; the operation to determine a delayprofile further comprises determining a delay profile for the displaydevice; and the operation to control timing comprises controlling timingfor when the formatted first downlink flow component is transmitted tothe speaker device and for when the formatted second downlink flowcomponent is transmitted to the display device based on comparison ofthe delay profiles for the speaker and display devices.
 15. The userterminal emulation server of claim 14, wherein: the delay profile forthe speaker device is determined based on measurement of delay inreceipt by the speaker device of communications from the user terminalemulation server; the delay profile for the display device is determinedbased on measurement of delay in receipt by the display device ofcommunications from the user terminal emulation server; and theoperation to control timing comprises controlling when the formattedfirst downlink flow component is transmitted to the speaker devicerelative to when the formatted second downlink flow component istransmitted to the display device so the formatted first downlink flowcomponent is received by the speaker device at substantially the sametime that the formatted second downlink flow component is received bythe display device.
 16. The user terminal emulation server of claim 14,wherein: the delay profile for the speaker device is determined based onmeasurement of processing delay between the speaker device receiving adownlink flow component and completing processing to output an audiosignal; the delay profile for the display device is determined based onmeasurement of processing delay between the display device receiving adownlink flow component and completing processing to display content;the operation to control timing comprises controlling when the formattedfirst downlink flow component is transmitted to the speaker devicerelative to when the formatted second downlink flow component istransmitted to the display device so the speaker device completesprocessing of the formatted first downlink flow component atsubstantially the same time that the display device completes processingof the formatted second downlink flow component.
 17. A method by a userterminal emulation server for providing communication services usingsets of input and/or output, I/O, user devices, the method comprising:maintaining a database that identifies network addresses of I/O userdevices, user interface, UI, capabilities of the I/O user devices, andcommunication protocols of the I/O user devices, based on content ofreceived registration messages; receiving a communication request from anetwork entity for establishing a communication service between a userand the network entity; and responsive to the communication request,performing: providing communication sessions between a user terminalemulation application and the network entity and between the userterminal emulation application and a set of the I/O user devices thatare determined to be proximately located to a location of the user andthat satisfy a combined capability rule for being combinable to providea combined I/O user interface for the user to interface with the userterminal emulation application to perform the communication service;determining delay profiles for the communication sessions between theuser terminal emulation application and the I/O user devices in the set,wherein each of the delay profiles indicates a communication delayassociated with communicating with a different one of the I/O userdevices in the set; receiving a downlink flow from the network entity;splitting the downlink flow into a plurality of downlink flow componentsthat are assigned to different ones of the I/O user devices in the set,the different ones of the downlink flow components in the set havingdifferent UI characteristic that match the UI capabilities identified bythe database for the different ones of the I/O user devices in the set;repeating for each of the downlink flow components, formatting thedownlink flow component for transmission to the assigned I/O user devicebased on the communication protocol of the assigned I/O user deviceidentified by the database, and initiating transmission of the formatteddownlink flow component to the assigned I/O user device; and controllingtiming for when the formatted downlink flow component is transmitted tothe assigned I/O user device based on the delay profile associated withcommunicating with the assigned I/O user device.
 18. The method of claim17, further comprising: repeating for each of the downlink flowcomponents, the operation to format the downlink flow componentcomprises generating a Real-time Transport Protocol, RTP, formatteddownlink flow component and a Real-time Control Transport Protocol,RTCP, formatted downlink flow component, the operation to control timingfor when the formatted downlink flow component is transmitted to theassigned I/O user device based on the delay profile associated withcommunicating with the assigned I/O user device, comprises controllingthe timing so the RTP formatted downlink flow components for theassigned I/O user devices in the set are substantially time alignedbased on a common time clock; and the operation to initiate transmissionof the formatted component operates to initiate transmissions of the RTPformatted downlink flow component to the assigned I/O user device.
 19. Acomputer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readablemedium storing program code that is executed by at least one processorof a user terminal emulation server for providing communication servicesusing sets of input and/or output, I/O, user devices, the program codewhen executed by the at least one processor performing operationscomprising: maintaining a database that identifies network addresses ofI/O user devices, user interface, UI, capabilities of the I/O userdevices, and communication protocols of the I/O user devices, based oncontent of received registration messages; receiving a communicationrequest from a network entity for establishing a communication servicebetween a user and the network entity; and responsive to thecommunication request, performing: providing communication sessionsbetween a user terminal emulation application and the network entity andbetween the user terminal emulation application and a set of the I/Ouser devices that are determined to be proximately located to a locationof the user and that satisfy a combined capability rule for beingcombinable to provide a combined I/O user interface for the user tointerface with the user terminal emulation application to perform thecommunication service; determining delay profiles for the communicationsessions between the user terminal emulation application and the I/Ouser devices in the set, wherein each of the delay profiles indicates acommunication delay associated with communicating with a different oneof the I/O user devices in the set; receiving a downlink flow from thenetwork entity; splitting the downlink flow into a plurality of downlinkflow components that are assigned to different ones of the I/O userdevices in the set, the different ones of the downlink flow componentsin the set having different UI characteristic that match the UIcapabilities identified by the database for the different ones of theI/O user devices in the set; and repeating for each of the downlink flowcomponents, formatting the downlink flow component for transmission tothe assigned I/O user device based on the communication protocol of theassigned I/O user device identified by the database, initiatingtransmission of the formatted downlink flow component to the assignedI/O user device; and controlling timing for when the formatted downlinkflow component is transmitted to the assigned I/O user device based onthe delay profile associated with communicating with the assigned I/Ouser device.
 20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein theprogram code when executed by the at least one processor furtherperforming the operations of: receiving uplink flow components from theI/O user devices in the set; combining the uplink flow components into acombined uplink flow, including by formatting the uplink flow componentsfor transmission to the network entity based on a communication protocolof the network entity identified by the database; and initiatingtransmission of the combined uplink flow to the network entity via thecommunication session between the user terminal emulation applicationand the network entity.